Happily Never After (17 page)

“Jason, you have to understand, I cannot get
on with my life the way I want until this is finished. There’s a
reason Catherine’s here now and I can’t let her win.”

Once again, he sat beside me and hung his
head. After a couple seconds passed, he looked at me and said, “I
realize how important this is to you, that isn’t lost on me but I’m
not going to let you do it on your own. Whether I help you or
someone else, you won’t be alone. Maybe I can call one of these
paranormal groups, set up a meeting. I’m more than happy to use my
money or so-called fame to help.”

“You can try but I don’t think even you could
get a meeting right away.”

“Wanna make a bet? Just watch and learn.” He
pulled out his iPhone and began typing in some information. When I
leaned over to peek, he hid it from me. After a few more minutes,
he placed a call.

“Hi. Magnolia Paranormal Society? My name is
Jason Preston and I’m in town this summer filming a movie. Yeah,
that’s me. I was wondering if I could set up an appointment to talk
to one of your investigators. I think it would help me be better
prepared for this role.”

As he listened, he winked at me and I rolled
my eyes.

“Actually, would you be available today? I
was hoping to get this done as soon as possible. I have a big scene
coming up and want to get it right. Perfect, yeah I can find it.
I’ll see you there.” He ended the call and said, “And that is how
it’s done.”

“I can’t believe it was that easy. It must
have been a woman.”

“What exactly does that mean?” He pretended
to look innocent.

“You know what I mean. You have to be aware
of your effect on the female gender. My bet is you talked to a girl
who just answers the phone. She found out it was you and is going
to pretend to be an investigator. Simple.”

“You’re pretty sure of yourself aren’t ya?
We’ll just wait and see.” Jason stood and pulled me up with him. We
approached his bodyguard, Isaac, hand in hand. “The investigator is
meeting us in an hour.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Avoiding the more crowded parts of the
downtown area, we slowly made our way to the small café where the
investigator was meeting us.

Jason and I arrived first and took one of the
back tables.

“I’m kind of nervous about this.”

Jason leaned over and took my hands in his.
“Why? I thought you decided this would be the smartest thing to
do.”

“I’m not exactly an open book kind of girl.
Sharing this with you and Abby was different. This is some random
person.”

“I get that and I’m proud of you. Just keep
your eye on the end prize, having your house to yourself once and
for all.”

We were silent for a little while before he
asked about our investigations. “What’s the best piece of evidence
you’ve found? I think those ghost hunting shows on TV have really
brought stuff like this into the public eye, before it wasn’t as
‘cool’ to be interested in ghosts.”

“You’re right, it’s become more acceptable. I
think the best thing we’ve found was the dark shape of a person
standing in a doorway at Moon River. It’s a video and you can
clearly see it peer around the edge of the doorway. The stuff I’ve
picked up at the house isn’t as good. That might be because I’m too
used to what goes on there, but I'll never get used to the
disembodied voices. A voice coming out of thin air is
disturbing.”

“I don’t even want to imagine the things
you’ve seen and heard over the years.”

No, he didn’t. I wished my ability to hear
spirits was getting weaker instead of stronger. Maybe the person we
were waiting on could help with that as well.

A younger man in his mid-twenties stopped at
the table. He had spiky blond hair and wore black framed glasses.
For some reason, I relaxed even though I was expecting someone much
older. I sat back and unclenched my fists as Jason elbowed me and
whispered, “See, it's not a woman.”

“Jason?” he greeted. “I’m Travis.”

Jason stood up and shook the man’s hand.
“Thanks for getting here so quickly, I really appreciate it. Have a
seat.”

Travis sat as Jason introduced me and I tried
not to fidget too much.

“Alright, I have to admit I’m very curious
about what you want to talk to me about. You said it was for a
movie?”

Clearing his throat nervously, Jason
admitted, “Well, I wasn’t completely honest with you on the phone.
I do have questions but it’s not for a movie, or even for me. It’s
about Quinn here. She needs some help.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that to begin
with?” Travis gave me an uncertain smile.

“That’s my fault. I thought if you knew who I
was it would get us a meeting faster. It’s a serious situation and
I have to say I’m a little worried about her being hurt.”

“Hurt? I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“Why don’t I let Quinn explain?”

I took a deep breath and launched into the
things that were happening to me. I couldn’t read the expression on
Travis’s face but he was listening intently.

When I finished, I watched Travis mulling
over my story. I could tell some of the stuff took him by surprise,
as well as Jason. I didn’t leave anything out and felt Jason tense
up beside me as I talked about the incident with the grave.

Finally, Travis spoke. “I’m glad you called
me. This is a very dangerous situation.”

“Yes, I’m learning today just how dangerous.”
Jason directed towards me. To Travis, he said, “So is there
anything you can tell us about why this is happening and how we can
stop it?”

“Actually, it might have been happening
longer than you realize, Quinn.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“With this kind of haunting, more often than
not it’s a multigenerational event. Have any other family members
been plagued by a spirit of some kind?”

“No, I don’t think so. Both sets of my
grandparents died when I was young and same with my parents. I have
an aunt and uncle but they live on the other side of the country.
Neither of my parents ever mentioned anything about spirits that I
can remember. Mama always told me stories about the paranormal side
of the city but I’m not sure if she meant anything specific with
her.”

Travis thought for a second. “Your dad was a
Roberts, right?” I nodded. “And he was an only child?”

“Yes. Mama wasn’t, though.”

“Do you think this spirit only harasses the
females in the family?” Jason’s question surprised me and lit my
curiosity.

“I’m not entirely sure but it’s possible. You
said she mentioned wanting destroy you or the family. Maybe she’s
been there all along but now she’s concentrating on you because
you’re so vulnerable.”

I tried not to make a face at Travis’ usage
of the word ‘vulnerable’. As much as I hated the word and in no way
saw myself as that, I understood what he meant. I was the last
Roberts and Catherine had the opportunity to exact the ultimate
revenge. Not that it made me feel any better.

“I might be able to ask Margaret if she knows
about anyone else being affected by Catherine.”

They both shot me looks of disbelief before
Jason said, “I should be used to this by now, I guess. Do you think
you can contact her?”

“Not sure, but it’s worth a shot.” I turned
towards Travis. “Is there a way Catherine can be stopped?”

“Yes, I believe so. It’s basically treated
like a demonic possession. We have to force the spirit out of your
stepmother. Somewhere along the line, your stepmother accepted or
invited the spirit in, that’s the only way a possession this
powerful could happen.”

“I don’t understand. Why would Marietta
invite this in? I’ve seen how it feeds off her. It’s draining the
life out of her.”

A picture of Marietta flashed into my head.
Her pale lips, sunken eyes and vacant expression caused her to
resemble the walking dead. There was no way she wanted that.

“She probably wasn’t aware of what she was
agreeing to. The spirit of Catherine might have the ability to
alter a person’s sense of reality. You witnessed that yourself in
the cemetery. Catherine could very well be keeping your stepmother
in a state of illusion. When she looks in the mirror, she won’t see
how it’s affecting her physically.”

“That’s disturbing.” I figured he had to be
right about the illusion. Any woman as high maintenance as Marietta
would likely have a meltdown at seeing her reflection and her dark
roots showing.

“So basically in order to get Catherine’s
spirit to leave Marietta, we also have to convince Marietta to
allow that. Does that make sense? This isn’t only about
Catherine.”

I must have looked worried because Travis
continued, “This is going to be hard. I’m not going to lie to you.
It might not even work the first time. What I need you to do now is
find out as much as you can about Catherine and if she’s done this
before. I’ll do some research on my end and we’ll meet back here in
three days, on Thursday. Does that sound good?”

Jason and I both nodded. I could tell Travis
was anxious to get started and after he left I couldn’t help but
breathe a sigh of relief.

Jason grinned at me. “See, I told you it
would be a good idea.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

My birthday was a week away and my battered
nerves were starting to get to me.

Every time I closed my eyes to sleep, I
expected Catherine to come at me with a vengeance. I kept looking
over my shoulder, waiting for her to attack from behind. Each day
that went by without incident or, at least a major incident, frayed
my patience more.

I felt like a sitting duck cornered in a dark
alley with nowhere to go.

I was on my knees in the dining room, trying
to remove a scuffmark from the old hardwood floor when a chill
settled over me. Goosebumps covered my arms before I noticed I was
no longer alone. I smelled the foul river stench before I saw her.
Marietta hovered over me but I saw no trace of her. This, I knew,
was Catherine and I braced myself for what was about to happen.

“Where did you get that?” Again, it was the
strange, creepy voice speaking to me, only this time with tightly
controlled anger.

I glanced to where she pointed and my heart
stopped. As I’d bent over to scrub the floor, the necklace Margaret
gave me swung free from my shirt. It was right there in plain
sight, twinkling in the afternoon light.

Rising to my feet, I tensed my body to run.
“I found it upstairs, in the attic,” I answered weakly.

A strange, almost wistful look transformed
her face. “I wore that on my wedding day, only I wasn’t marrying
the man I always pictured when I’d think of forever.”

“Jackson.” This was the only time Catherine
hadn’t threatened me and I vaguely wondered if I had an opportunity
to reason with her.

Tears sprang up in Marietta’s vacant eyes and
she clutched her chest. “Jackson. Yes, he was the man I should have
married. I waited for him but my parents had other plans for
me.”

I swallowed. “No one could have known he was
still alive.”

“I knew. I knew in my heart he was out there,
somewhere. The day of my wedding, I'd planned on running away.
William was a monster but no one seemed to care. All they cared
about was settling a debt with me as the price.”

Her shadow swooped up and darkened, throwing
the room into a kaleidoscope of light and dark.

“It probably hurt your parents more than you
know to marry you off to him.”

Then it all changed.

The room darkened, turning it to night. The
shadows cast crazy patterns on Marietta’s face. It made me think of
a scary clown in a horror movie. Then, the temperature in the room
dropped. I saw my breath and my teeth started chattering.

I remembered as a kid watching a movie alone
one night called Poltergeist. It scared the crap out of me. What
made me think of it now was the way the atmosphere in the house
changed so quickly, exactly like in the movie. I half expected to
see the chairs in the room stack themselves or the tree outside the
window to come to life and try to devour me.

Only now, it was Marietta who wanted to rip
me apart.

“They had a choice! They could have given him
this house instead of their firstborn daughter. I was handed over
to him like nothing more than a piece of property,” she
screamed.

Marietta’s hand reached out to grab the
necklace. The minute her fingers grazed the gold pendant, it
sparked.

She wrenched her hand back and roared, “Give
me that!”

I shook my head in a quick movement and tried
to inch my way out of the room.

What little light was left in the room got
sucked out and the house literally shuddered. An icy cold breeze
sprung up around me and picked up force, placing me in the middle
of a tornado.

The river stench grew, thick and suffocating.
My vision blurred as the wind intensified. I had no idea where she
was. The darkness lightened some and I saw objects flying through
the room, caught in the maelstrom that Catherine was fueling.

In the corner Marietta’s body stood staring
at the wall, an empty vessel swaying with the gusts of air
battering her. Catherine’s shadow became a separate entity and
rushed at me. Pain ripped through every inch of me and my skin
burned. Invisible flames licked at my skin, spreading an intense
pain over every inch of me. I came close to passing out.

From what felt like a hundred miles away, I
sensed George enter the room and move towards Catherine. I wanted
to tell him to go, that she was too strong for him, but the agony
of the searing flames locked my mouth shut and rendered me
speechless.

The shadow beat him back and his spirit
disappeared. There was a loud crash and the sound of broken glass
as the wind and the burning sensation intensified.